Executive Summary

Our consolidated sales for the first quarter of 2023 were $546.1 million, an increase of 5% as compared with $519.1 million in the prior year. Foreign exchange had an unfavorable impact on sales of approximately $14 million, or 3 percentage points as compared with prior year. Income from operations was $63.0 million and represented 11.5% of sales, as compared with $66.2 million and 12.8% of sales in the prior year. Included in income from operations for the first quarter of 2023 and 2022, respectively, were $0.1 million and $1.6 of acquisition related expenses. Net income was $37.0 million, as compared to $44.1 million in the first quarter of 2022. Diluted earnings in the first quarter ended April 2, 2023 were $1.14 per share, as compared with $1.33 per share in the first quarter of 2022.

First quarter 2023 results were solid as the Company continued to deliver on its strategic growth initiatives driven by multi-year advancements in new product development, positioning in growth markets and geographies, geographic penetration and growth from acquisitions.

Our balance sheet continues to be strong. Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $255.9 million as of April 2, 2023 and the Company had more than $400 million of available liquidity, including cash on hand as well as availability under its revolving credit facility. We believe that these factors will allow us to meet our anticipated funding requirements.

Outlook

The Company will also continue to focus on innovation and new product development and other opportunities for sales growth from our existing businesses in 2023, as follows:

Consumer & Specialties Segment

? Increase our presence and market share in global pet litter products,

particularly in emerging markets.

? Deploy new products in pet care such as lightweight litter.

? Increase our sales of calcium carbonate products by further penetration into

filling and coating applications in the paper and packaging markets.

? Promote the Company's expertise in crystal engineering by developing crystal

morphologies that help our customers achieve functional benefits.

? Deploy new calcium carbonate products in paint, coating and packaging

applications.

? Continue developing products and processes for waste management and recycling

opportunities to reduce the environmental impact for our customers by reducing

energy consumption and improve the sustainability of their products.

? Continue to develop innovative applications for our bleaching earth products

for edible oil and biofuel industries.

? Develop new mineral-based solutions for personal care applications.

? Increase our presence and market share in globally for retinol delivery

technology for personal care applications.

? Expand our bentonite product solutions for animal health applications.

? Increase our presence and market share in fabric care, particularly in

emerging markets.

Engineered Solutions Segment

? Increase our presence and gain penetration of our bentonite-based foundry

customers for the metalcasting industry in emerging markets, such as China and

India.

? Deploy value-added formulations of refractory materials that not only reduce

costs but improve performance.

? Deploy our laser measurement technologies into new applications.

? Expand our refractory maintenance model to other steel makers globally.

? Continue the development of our FLUORO-SORB® products which remediate

contamination of Per-and polyflouroalkyl substances (PFAS) and Perflourooctane

sulfanate (PFOS).

? Pursue opportunities for our products in environmental and building and

construction markets in the Middle East, Asia Pacific and South America

regions.

? Increase our presence and market share for geosynthetic clay liners globally.

? Continue expansion of our drilling product solutions, including geothermal

alternative energy project applications.

All Segments

? Further operational excellence principles into all aspects of the organization,

including system infrastructure and lean principles.

? Continue to explore selective acquisitions to fit our competencies in minerals

and our core technologies.




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However, there can be no assurance that we will achieve success in implementing any one or more of these opportunities.

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